North Africa/ Southwest Asia

North Africa/Southwest Asia (also known as the Mideast) is an excellent example of a region: although is made up of countries on two continents, it is still considered a region because the people in the area share many things, especially religion. A region is the places in the world that share something in common. A region can be a particular area, like “Southern Europe”, or it can be all the places in the world that have something in common, like “Places where wheat is the most important crop” or “Schools with great Geography teachers”.The most important feature that ties North Africa/Southwest Asia together is many of the people follow Islam. A large number are also the same ethnicity, Arab, although there are many other ethnic groups in the area. These things are true of both Northern Africa, but not Africa South of the Sahara, and Southwest Asia, but not other parts of Asia. That is why those sections of the continents are studied together. Other important features of the Mideast are the abundance of petroleum, the difficulty in having enough water, and a high level of conflict.

Physical GeographyPeninsulas, mountains, rivers, seas, and deserts are all important features of North Africa/Southwest Asia. The region is made up of the northern part of Africa and the extremely southwestern part of Asia. The southwestern part of Asia is made up of the Arabian and Anatolian peninsulas and a small part of continental Asia. This part of the region is very rugged with several mountain ranges in the north, a lot of seismic (vibrations of the earth, including earthquakes) activity, and a very dry desert on the Arabian Peninsula. In North Africa, the areas around water are fertile plains and the rest is part of the Sahara Desert. The Sahara Desert is a very large desert. The Sahara desert has been very important for North Africa’s culture. The desert is so big and so difficult to cross, the people of North Africa had little contact with the rest of Africa (Sub-Saharan Africa). At the same time, because North Africa borders the Mediterranean Sea, contact and trade with the rest of the countries that border the sea was fairly easy. So the cultures in North Africa became more similar to the cultures of Southwest Asia Southern Europe. In general, physical features can affect cultures in a big way. Deserts, mountains, and big oceans cause cultures to become isolated (or separated) from others. Smaller bodies of water, either rivers or seas and flat plains, cause cultures that live around them to come into contact with and influence other cultures. This is called cultural diffusion. Water is really important for people living in the region. There are many seas in the region. The region also has two very important river systems. The delta (where a rivers empties into an ocean, usually has a lot of fertile soil piled up there) of the Nile is in Egypt. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers are in Iraq. These rivers were the location of two very important cultural hearths thousands of years ago: Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. These rivers are still very important. The banks of the Nile, which is only 3% of the land in Egypt, holds 90% of the population. As the Nile empties into the sea, it slows down and the soil it carries settles on the ground. This is very fertile soil called alluvial soil.

Natural ResourcesNorth Africa/Southwest Asia holds around 60% of the world’s petroleum reserves (used to make oil, gas, plastic, and other things). For that reason, several countries in the region are very wealthy. In addition to fossil fuels, some minerals are found in abundance in the Mideast. These include: iron ore (steel), copper (pipes, wiring, computer parts), lead (car batteries, firearms, radiation shielding), manganese (steel), and zinc (deodorant, paint, and dandruff shampoo). Phosphate, which is used to make fertilizer (something that makes plants grow), is found in many parts of the region, especially Morocco.

ClimateClimate in North Africa/Southwest Asia is really easy to remember. Those places near water generally have a Mediterranean climate. Further inland, those areas adjacent to the Mediterranean climates are usually steppe (P-10-25 inches of rain a year, V-grasslands, few trees, T-can be cold or hot). Much of Turkey, Iran, and Afghanistan are steppe. The remainder of the region is a desert climate (P-less than 10 inches a year, V-from scrub plants and cactus to almost nothing, T-can be cold or hot). About 50% of the region is desert. You might think that means a lot of sand but it doesn’t. Less than 10% of the land in the desert is sand. The rest of the desert is rocky and gravelly. Most of the farming in the region is done in the areas with a Mediterranean climate. The areas of steppe are well-suited to livestock raising. More recently, many farmers in North Africa and Southwest Asia chose to grow crops like European and American farmers who use irrigation to water land that does not receive enough precipitation to grow a large amount of plants. Irrigation means watering plants artificially (think sprinklers in a yard). Irrigation can really increase how much the land can grow but it can also have a negative impact on the environment. In order to irrigate, the water has to come from somewhere. So people build dams on rivers to have the water available. Unfortunately, building a dam can affect how the river flows and cause problems for people and animals along the entire river.

PopulationNorth Africa/Southwest Asia possesses a large number of ethnicities. The major ethnic group is Arab. Arabs live in all of the countries in the region and have a lot of power in most of the countries. Other ethnicities include: Israelis, Turks, Iranians, Afghanis, Armenians, and Kurds.North Africa/Southwest Asia is an excellent example of how dependent people are on access to water, even today. Most of the people in the area live in areas with relatively easy access to water. The parts of the region that contain no water are often uninhabited. Throughout the Sahara, small groups of people (the most well-known are the Tuareg and the Berbers) adopted a nomadic lifestyle to adapt to the harsh environment. Since the Sahara lacked enough resources to allow people to live in one place all year, these groups figured out places in the desert that could support them with food and water for part of the year. Then, when they need to, they move to another part of the desert. This knowledge of the desert has made them important traders and guides in the area since they are the only ones who know how to survive the environment.

HistoryBecause of the mild climate and important rivers, North Africa/Southwest Asia saw rise to two cultural hearths. A cultural hearth is a place that comes up with a way of living (culture) that the places around it adopt. Around 6000 years ago, people settled in the Nile river valley. These people figured out how to tame, or domesticate, wild animals. They also learned how to grow important grains, called cereals, such as barley, wheat, and rice. These early settlements eventually grew into the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia. The civilization in Mesopotamia is called Samaria. Sumerians used irrigation to grow food all year round. Because of this, there was a surplus of food, so some people went onto do other jobs and investigate the world in a way farmers don’t have the time for. The Sumerians had scientists, mathematicians, and engineers. They needed to remember their knowledge, so they began writing things down on tablets of clay. This writing is called cuneiform. The Egyptians developed a writing system as well. They used pictures to represent ideas. This style of writing is called hieroglyphics. Later on, as the Sumerian and Egyptian civilizations declined, other groups grew. The Phoenicians developed an alphabet where letter stood for sounds. In present day Iran, the Persian empire became an important empire when the Greeks and Romans were powerful. Throughout history North Africa and Southwest Asia have been in the center of trade between three continents. After the development of Islam, the area turned to that religion. It was controlled by the Turkish Ottoman Empire from 1650 to the end of World War 1 in 1918. Once the Ottomans fell, Europeans took control of the area. After World War 2, many of the people in the region wanted the Europeans to go away and to become independent. In the 1960’s, most of the region gained independence and many new nations were created. This area became very important to the developed nations of the world because of the abundance of oil. After World War 2, many people all over the world thought that the Jews of Europe deserved their own country. There was a lot of debate over where it should be located. Eventually, the United Nations (an organization of countries who try to avoid war and improve the world) decided Palestine, in North Africa/Southwest Asia, should be the location. The people of the region thought this was a terrible idea and tried to stop it from happening by going to war. They lost the war and many Palestinians Arabs were forced to move to make room for people creating the Jewish state of Israel. Arabs in the region continued to want Israel to go away and several countries tried to fight the Israelis in a war in 1967. This war was called the Six Day War, because Israel beat a number of countries in six days. In fact, Israel managed to take over a lot more land. Up until the 1990’s, most Arabs and Arab countries thought Israel should be destroyed, existing no more. These countries just did not have a way to do it. In the 1990’s, some Arab countries agreed to accept the existence of Israel. Many people thought this could be a basis for peace but it has not been easy. Israel is a source of conflict and violence to this day. Palestine is trying to gain independence but they are not having a lot of luck. As recently as 2012, Israel and part of the Palestinian Authority resorted to violence. Many countries and international organizations like the United Nations have tried to convince the Israelis and Palestinians to be more peaceful and try to find lasting solutions to problems. Israel and Iran are also having major problems that could lead to war and cause problems for the United States. There are other areas of conflict including Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, Algeria, and Kurds living in Turkey and Iraq. Beginning in 2010, the people of several countries in the region began demanding a change in their governments. A man in Tunisia set fire to himself to protest how the government treated people like him. Nearby, people in Egypt and Libya began protesting against their governments. Usually, these people wanted more democracy and fairness in their governments and more job opportunities in their economies. This spread to the countries of Bahrain, Syria, and Yemen. These protests were called the Arab Spring. In each country, the governments responded differently. Some used violence against the protestors while others tried to listen to the protestors. Since this outbreak of protests, much has happened. Many countries, including the United States, helped the people of Libya overthrow their government. No one has intervened in Syria and the government there is killing people daily to stay in control. Over 9000 people have died.

ReligionThe region is the birthplace of three major world religions: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. This has conflict because sometimes the different religions will consider the same places as holy and then fight over them. This is especially true of Jerusalem in Israel. Important events in all three religions occurred inJerusalem and all three religions want to control the city. People have fought over Jerusalem because of religion basically forever. In the region, the overwhelming majority of people are followers of Islam. There are two major groups of Muslims: Sunni and Shiite. Sometimes, there two different groups disagree with each other. At times, they have fought each other. Followers of Islam are called Muslims. They believe in many of the same things Christians and Jews believe but they also believe there was a holy man, or prophet, named Mohammad who was able to know and write down what God wanted in the Islamic holy book, the Quran. In addition to believing and trying to follow the Quran, Muslims believe they must pray five times a day and they must make a pilgrimage (or travel to) to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Today, Jews and Christians are only a small percentage of the population in the region, but followers of these two religions want to protect places they believe to be holy or sacred so they follow and sometimes get involved in what is going on in North Africa/Southwest Asia. Also, many Jews and some Christians want to make sure Israel can be safe and protect itself, so they try to support Israel.

GovernmentMany of the governments in the region have being undergoing change. In many countries, people have demanded or fought governments they believed to undemocratic. It is unclear if these protestors are going to be more successful in making their governments become more democratic. In other parts, like Turkey and Israel, the governments have been democratic for a long time. Several countries, like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, and the UAE (United Arab Emirates), are absolute monarchies. An absolute monarchy is a government that has a hereditary ruler (power passes down through the family, the people do not chose) and they have the power to make important decisions about the country. This is different from the symbolic monarchies of Europe, where they are a symbol of the country’s history and don’t have real power. In North Africa/ Southwest Asia, the monarchs are in control. These countries have some very harsh rules about how to live and severe punishments for people who try to change things. For example, women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to drive and can get into big trouble if they try to do so.

EconomyMost of the economies in North Africa/Southwest Asia are dominated by the production of petroleum. After the independence movement, other countries were able to buy the oil they needed at very cheap prices because the nations in the area competed with one another. Eventually, they figured out that if they worked together they could get better prices. Several oil-producing countries formed an organization to help them cooperate called the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). OPEC countries decide together how much oil to produce and sell. This approach has made the countries of OPEC very wealthy.Oil taken from the ground is called crude oil. To use the oil, it must be refined into petroleum products like oil, gasoline, and plastics. Although the region contains 55% of the world’s oil, it refines only 5% of the oil it produces. The oil countries could make a lot more money by selling refined petroleum products, but because they have made so much money on crude oil, they have been very slow to diversify. Recently, many developed countries, including the US, have questioned whether it is a good thing to need so much oil. These countries are trying to come up with new ways to get power without oil. So even though these countries that depend on oil are still very wealthy today, it may change and they are not prepared for this to happen.The region produces other products especially in those areas with a large Mediterranean climate. Agricultural products like livestock, cereals, and even fruits like dates are produced and exported. Egypt exports a lot of cotton and Turkey has an important fishing industry. The people in the countries that produce a lot of oil can often expect very comfortable lives. In many of these countries, citizens can expect government to help with buying things like houses, healthcare, education, and even weddings. Other countries have a lot of poverty. Worst off are the countries in the middle of war like Iraq and Afghanistan. In those countries, violence keeps the economies from working very well and the people suffer.

EnvironmentAccess to drinkable water is a major issue in North Africa/ Southwest Asia. Seawater has salt in it so people can not drink it and live. Only in the very wealthy, oil-producing countries like Qatar, Bahrain, and Yemen are desalinization plants found that take seawater and turn it into freshwater. It is very expensive to desalinate (take salt out of) water. People in the drier areas are very dependent on regular rainfall. Because the climate has been changing rapidly all over the world, this regular rainfall sometimes does not come. In fact the Sahara has been growing quickly through a process called desertification. When it does not rain for a long time, this is called a drought. When a drought occurs, the people, animals, and plants that live in the area suffer. Sometimes, the plants and animals die off making it harder for people to survive. Sometimes, the people move to try to make a better life for themselves somewhere else.

North Africa/ Southwest Asia Unit Summary Questions
Intro and Physical Geography
1. Write
this down for as many times as you need to in order to memorize it for the REST
OF YOUR LIFE:
a. North
Africa/Southwest Asia is also known as the Middle East.
2. What
are three things North Africa has in common with Southwest Asia?
3. What
country lies on the Anatolian Peninsula?
4. What
countries lie on the Arabian Peninsula?
5. What
two physical features helped North Africa become more like Southwest Asia than
like Sub-Saharan Africa?
6. Define:
Cultural diffusion.
Natural Resources
7. What
is the most important resource, by far, in NA/SWA?
8. My
roses won’t grow! How will phosphates in Morocco going to help me?
Climate
9. How
much of this region is desert?
10. SA!
How are farmers on the Arabian peninsula trying to be more like Western
farmers?
11. SA!
How does one irrigate?
12. SA!
What is a possible impact of irrigation?
Population
13. SA!
How did the Tuareg adapt to the Sahara?
14. SA!
What has this adaptation done for the Tuareg?
History
15. SA!
What ancient cultural hearths existed in NA/SWA?
16. SA!
If you woke up 3000 years ago, how would you be able if you had woken up in a
cultural hearth?
17. SA!
Make a statement that include the phrases “Center of trade for 3 continents”
and “Cultural diffusion” that is true and really smart.
18. What
happened in 1650 and lasted until WW1 in this region?
19. Why
are the Palestinians so mad at the Israelis?
20. Why
are the Israelis so mad at the Palestinians?
21. What
countries have experienced pro-democracy protests?
22. Have
the pro-democracy protestors been successful?
Religion
23. SA!
What is significant about Jerusalem?
Government
24. SA!
What is the difference between an absolute monarchy and a symbolic monarchy?
25. Where
would one find an absolute monarchy?
Economy
26. SA!
What is OPEC? Explain this in your own words so that I know that you know.
27. Define:
Diversify
28. SA!
How has the massive amount of petroleum located in the Persian Gulf affected
people’s lives?
29. If
your country is really poor in NA/SWA, what has probably recently happened?
Environment
30. What
is desalinization?
31. What
is desertification?
32. What
happens during a drought?